PONCE INLET — John "Boo" McCulley has sent dozens of vessels to the bottom of sea to become artificial reefs, but none more picture perfect than the sinking of the Lady Philomena and Everglades on Saturday, nine miles east in the Atlantic Ocean.
After waiting for months for fair seas, Volusia County and McCulley, the county's marine contractor, couldn’t have asked for a better day.
Seas were smooth, skies were blue and more than 70 boatloads of people turned out to watch the 150-foot steel cargo vessel, Lady Philomena, and the 90-foot tug Everglades, become the latest additions to Volusia County’s artificial reef system.
After nearly two hours of seawater being pumped into the hold, the Philomena began to list. Once the ocean water began to flow in through large holes cut into the side, the ship began to list still more. Then, within just a few minutes, the vessel righted itself and sank perfectly straight up at 11 a.m.
“That’s the prettiest one I’ve ever done,” exclaimed McCulley, as he oversaw the complex operation from the wheel of his yacht. "That's the flattest we've ever sent one down."
The Everglades followed minutes later, in a little more dramatic fashion. The former tugboat’s stern sank first, falling straight toward the bottom, landing in a vertical position with the bow sticking straight out of the water. Then, as McCulley had predicted it would happen, after a brief hesitation the bow splashed backward and disappeared, sending a rush of bubbles to the surface.
The boats sank to the bottom in about 70 feet of water on the county’s reef site 12. Cheers and applause and horn blowing heralded the sinking of each boat. “I don’t think anybody has ever sunk two before,” McCulley said.
The first fish were expected to begin visiting the new reefs on Saturday afternoon. Both boats were anchored for the sinking to two, two-ton chunks of concrete at the stern and bow, to keep them in place on the reef site as they sank. They joined large piles of concrete culverts, including one pile nearly three stories high.
By Saturday afternoon, it was likely that migratory fish species such as amberjack, marlin or barracuda would begin scoping out the new additions, said Keith Mille, a biological administrator who oversees the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s artificial reef program.
“You get more diversity from the large ships,” said Mille, with a greater diversity of marine life than if it were a natural reef or concrete pile.
“The sea turtles will find the reefs, too,” he said. “They’ll nudge up against it and rest and they’ll find algae to munch on.”
The Philomena was seized in the Port of Miami in March 2017 after the U.S. Customs Service found 47 kilos of cocaine stacked in gray and black plastic wrapped bricks, along with other assorted items, including a bottle of rum wrapped in a voodoo doll. The Customs Service makes seized ships available to local governments on a first-come, first-served basis.
Joe Nolin, the county’s reef coordinator, spotted the Everglades while visiting McCulley Marine in Fort Pierce, and the county was able to make a deal for it, too. Both boats were built in 1956 — the Lady Philomena in Germany and the tug in Cohoes, New York. The Everglades had been working in Miami when it sank in the Miami River.
After the boats were cleaned up and prepped, they were brought to Volusia County, where more than 1,000 people toured the boats during an open house last November at Down the Hatch in Ponce Inlet. But then a series of winter storms and McCulley's salvage work in hurricane-ravaged areas of the Caribbean and the Keys delayed the sinking.
The artificial reef project had been a mission of Nolin’s and Volusia County’s former manager, Jim Dinneen, whose last day was Friday.
Saturday turned out to be "a perfect day," said Dinneen, a diver, as he looked around at all the boats that had traveled out for the sinking. “We wanted these small boats to be able to see it. For some people, it was the chance of a lifetime.” And, he added: “The fish are going to go crazy.”
Under his tenure, the county nearly tripled its number of artificial reefs, growing from 40 to more than 140. Dinneen credited the support of County Council members for the advances. The council approved $125,000 for the addition of the two ships.
Now the county is gaining a reputation for opportunities for divers, spear fishermen and other fishermen, Dinneen said. "This will outlive us all, and it will probably outlive any other infrastructure the county has taken on."
Mille, with the Wildlife Commission, said Volusia County “has really recognized the long-term opportunities and benefits, and they’ve made that investment to permit and establish these areas, secure funding and hire the right contractor.”
The Wildlife Commission helps fund about 50 percent of the artificial reef projects statewide, he said. The Coastal Conservation Association, a statewide fishing group, also partnered with Volusia County on this reef project.
Although some have questioned the strategy of sinking concrete pipes and old boats offshore, Mille said the Wildlife Commission scrutinizes reef materials carefully. "There was not one drop of oil that floated to the top" as the boats sank, he said. "They did an exceptional job of cleaning it out."
The boats were scoured from top to bottom at McCulley's Fort Pierce docks last summer.
Local residents Zach Kearns, Chris Dembinsky and Brian Dean watched the sinking from aboard Dembinsky's boat, the JollyMon. "It was definitely a fun time," said Kearns. The friends were the first to dive the two ships. Kearns was the first to dive the Lady Philomena, just 30 minutes after the sinking. During his dive, the ocean floor was "still bubbling and really silty," he said. "No fish, but hopefully soon."
Dean was the first to dive the Everglades.
Dembinksy said both ships landed flat on the bottom. "The tug is leaning slightly to the west and the very tippy top is at 42 feet," he said. Because of their height, he said, "these sites are going to be great."
Visit the county's reef site 12, before the ship sinkings, with diver Chris Dembinsky, who posted this video and others at ScubaViz.us . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szHleonE9RI&feature=youtu.be
A map of Volusia County's reef sites: